Philadelphia Inquirer, once owned by George Norcross, says his time is ending

George Norcross III, who once owned and nearly ruined the Philadelphia Inquirer, is taken to task in the paper this morning as a political dinosaur whose time controlling South Jersey politics is coming – and should come – to an end. Why? Because things are changing – and his “entrenched political monoculture” is uglier the closer you get to it. For 3 decades, knocking everybody out of its way – mercilessly dispatching with local GOP, and independent Democrats on election day or by co-opting them with jobs and other opportunities a machine can dole out. Posted this AM, it’s called: The machine age of politics should be over in N.J.

The Norcross machine controls troops of good Democrats willing puppets who can be assembled for operations like one reported in Politico today, of “phantom candidates” with no apparent interest in actually serving, whose appearance on the ballot is engineered to relegate legitimate challengers to “ballot Siberia”. Better the Dem machine make your choice for you, South Jersey Dems. You might make the wrong one! Here’s a pullout quote from Philadelphia Inquirer, they nail it:

“In Philly as well as South Jersey, there’s more going on politically than merely what entrenched and insulated party leaders tend to dismiss as static emanating from the usual losers. A top-down, if not authoritarian, party apparatus that demands/enforces loyalty and marginalizes newcomers belongs to another time. Party officials everywhere should take note of the national political upheavals and local demographic changes of the last few years that have inspired citizens new to politics to seek – and win – public office, despite the fact they often encounter an insular process unwelcoming or even hostile to them.”

Change is coming, says the Inquirer. So is challenge to the Boss. More candidates, more organizing. This is the Trump effect on progressive Dems, coalition-building like mad. Shout out to my sisters in South Jersey Progressive Women for Change (SJWPC) – I see you and so does the Inky.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has no dog in any power struggle in the Democratic Party. If you’ve got information that says different, or you think something in the Inquirer’s editorial is factually incorrect – cite it, with a link, and it will be considered. Blue Jersey has always advocated for our party to be small-d democratic, representational, and not controlled by top-down powerbrokers at the expense of the will of the voters. I can’t imagine why you think machinations like what’s reported above are clean, or ethical, or respectful of voters. And nobody here is “fighting” Democrats; in fact, it is the Norcross operation which fights Democrats all the time – and has for years. That is, when they’re not partnering with folks like Chris Christie. Well-documented by impartial media; easily Googled.

I would think any Democrat would want a party that deserves its voters – not one that leaves its voters no choice but whatever the machine dictates.

Norcross is evil and needs to GO. He’s divided the Democratic Party SO bad. Everyone wants his dirty ass to fall hard
He creates lies, using law enforcement and social media to orchestrate and manufacture stories to damage people who challenge his cronies

This is pretty strongly worded, personal characterizations I probably wouldn’t use. But Norcross has controlled an out-sized amount of New Jersey policy and expenditures of the taxpayers’ money, given that he was not elected. So I guess that makes him a politician, and they get inspire this kind of strong response.

(But please, ‘Get Out,’ next time consider keeping your passion fastened on issues and not so personal when you’re on this site – thanks in advance).